Today, I want to share 3 marketing tips for small businesses in small towns. Two of these tips are immediately actionable, and will deal with social media productivity. The third is a general tip, but is very important when it comes to your business reputation in a small community.
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Avoid using text-only social media updates.
It’s more critical than ever to be aware of the way Facebook and other social platforms use algorithms to decide what you see and what you don’t see in your news feed/stream. Facebook’s algorithm is called “edgerank” and it is incredibly sophisticated. Without going into all the details (and frankly, I don’t know all the details), it’s important for you to understand that text only updates are valued less and less by edgerank. What should you do? Consider using an image that supports your thought with your update. Including an image in a Facebook post is super easy from a desktop or your mobile device.
Image curtesy of TechCrunch.com
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When adding photos to your social media posts, a good tip for looking good on almost every platform, is to use square images.
Facebook, Twitter, Instagram (obviously), Tumblr, Google+, Pinterest, etc… all of these platforms, have embraced the square photo, so it really does look good across the board. This tip should help save you some time when posting across your chosen platforms.
*Bonus* if you are using an iPhone to take your photos, there is a “square” option built right into the camera… use it. Check here for more tips on photography.
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Focus on quality.
Marketing in a small town is much more involved than just running an ad in the local paper for the newest product you hope to sell. You will be MUCH better served, if you focus on making sure your products/services are top notch. When your customers love you, they will return. It’s a long game, but it’s worth it to ensure you keep quality customers.
I hope these tips are useful to you in your small business endeavors. If I can be of assistance, I’m happy to chat. We know how difficult it can be to drum up new customers in small towns. Come back next week for some more tips you can use.
– Steven
By the way, I did my first Facebook Livestream on these very topics. It took me a little while to get warmed up and get past some general definitions… but then the tips come in around 18 mins in. (I know!… my next one will be shorter!). I love that this is the still… lol.
That face though!